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PREHISTORIC ARCHITECTURE

Pre-history and History

➢ The term “Prehistory" was coined by French
scholars, referring to the time before people
recorded history in writing.
Introduction
➢ This is the longest period in the past of
to Pre- modern man (homo sapiens) that lasted about
400,000 years.
historic
➢ History is the period of recorded events of
Civilization man. History refers to the time after invention
of writing. The history of the world is the
memory of the past experience of Homo
sapiens around the world, as that experience
has been preserved, largely in written records.

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PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD
HISTORY
Paleolithic
(20,00,000 BC)
• Hunters and gatherers
•Nomadic
•Simple tools and weapons
•Use of fire
•Spoken language
•Burial of dead
•Belief in a spiritual world
•Creation of cave paintings
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Early Civilization
Neolithic (10,000 BC) (3,000 BC)
• work as farmers • priests and nobles
•Live in permanent villages •Merchants and artisans
•Use domesticated plants •Peasants
and animals •Slaves
•Large villages •Rise of cities
•Increased status for males •Organized governments
•Warriors assert power •Job specification
over others •Growth of social disease
•More personal •System of writing
possessions
•Trade
•New technologies
•Complex religion
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Development of Early Culture

Living in caves - hunting

Settlements developed near caves or along

shores and streams – farming & hunting

Understanding of seasons – Cultivation –

Domestication of animals

Specialized tools were developed. Religious &

communal aspects – building arts developed

Different societies developed differently

The success of the human race was largely due to the

development of tools – made of stone, wood, bone

01 Humans spread from Africa into

Southern Europe, Asia
• Could not settle far north due to the cold climate
• From Siberia by foot into North America
• From Southeast Asia by boat into Australia

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Building Materials, Construction &

Technologies

Characteristics of
prehistoric Building materials,
Building Types construction and
architecture will be technologies
examined under
three headings:
Principles of
architectural
organization

Building Types

Categories of Prehistoric buildings

•Dwellings and settlements

•Funerary and Religious buildings
•Ritual structures

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Factors influencing Architecture

➢ Geography
➢ Geology
➢ Climate
➢ Religion
➢ Social and Political
➢ History

PRE-HISTORIC ARCHITECTURE

➢Occurred before invention of written records

➢Also called Stone Age period because of the absence

of metal implements

➢• Occurred from Human Habitation of earth to 9000

BC

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• The history of man can be classified into different stages and

with-it corresponding structures were built:

• 1. Savage stage or the Old Stone Age or the Paleolithic age. Up

to 9000 BC
• 2. Barbarian stage or the New Stone Age or the Neolithic age.
9000 BC to 3000 BC
• 3. Iron or Bronze Age

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• Not restricted to any particular geographical region

• Occurred in different localities
• Usually close to sources of food, near rivers

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Architecture of the Civilization

EARLY STONE AGE

➢ Always on the move

➢ Used temporary structures
➢ Provided basic shelter and protection for short
periods of time

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Principles of Architectural Organization

DWELLINGS AND SETTLEMENTS: EARLY STONE AGE

• 1. Primary requirement is for temporary structure

• 2. No desire to invest in construction of dwellings
• 3. Constructed dwellings using available materials
• 4. Form directly reflecting natural objects

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Materials, Construction System & Technique

• 1. Used simple, easily available materials

• 2. Usually of plant and animal materials such as wooden poles,
grasses, leaves, and animal skins
• 3. Construction system was also simple
• 4. Usually involves digging holes, putting wooden poles in
holes and burying them
• 5. The poles are tied together to create the shell of the
building
• 6. The shell is covered with grasses, leaves or animal skins

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Paleolithic age

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Paleolithic age ( OLD STONE AGE)

• 1. First use of Stone Tools

• 2. These early humans lived as hunters and gatherers
• 3. Used stone tools with single sharp edges
• 4. Use caved art to depict life (painted cave walls, usually
animals)
• 5. Develop fire by rubbing stones

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The Old Stone Age

• Where people used crude stone for their implements.

• 1. Man was a hunter and a food gatherer

• 2. Got their food through food gathering, hunting and fishing

• 3. Constructed temporary shelters from perishable materials

such as tree trunks and leaves.

• 4. He also made use of natural and man-made caves both

below and above ground as shelter.

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• The method of living was temporary

▪ Nomadic, always on the move
▪ Move about in search of food, water, and good climate

• Usually move about in small bands of less than 15 persons

• Their lifestyle made them barely able to survive

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Caves

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Paleolithic Cave Paintings, Tools

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Paleolithic (20,00,000 BC)

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Actual cave paintings

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THE NEW STONE AGE

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The New Stone Age

➢ When early man emerged from cave

dwellings into shelters created by his hands

➢ The history of architecture began.

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The New Stone Age

➢ Lasted from 8,000 to 3,000BC

➢ People used polished stone for their implements

➢ Their method of housing was made more permanent with the use of durable
materials.

➢ Discovered art of farming and animal husbandry

➢ People become more domesticated and were preoccupied with cattle raising
and planting

➢ Learned to domesticate animals, farm and grow crops, make pottery and
weave cloth
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The New Stone Age

Neolithic people acquired confidence in ability to tame and

control nature

•Period saw interest in natural cycles such as of weather and

heavenly bodies
•e.g. sun and moon

•People learned to differentiate between spaces and places –

sacred versus everyday places

• Architecture was born

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The New Stone Age

➢ Having fulfilled his basic need, Neolithic man sought to

conquer fear of the unknown

➢ Needed to understand forces of nature that both nourishes

and destroys

➢ Sought to understand the heavenly bodies and weather

cycles

➢ Sought to control nature through rituals and magic

➢ Gradually introduced the idea of religion

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The New Stone Age

➢ Confusion about death and life after death led to introduction

of tombs

➢ Tombs are evidence of social differences in the society

➢ Skills were developed, marking start of civilization

➢ People stopped wandering and settled down in permanent
settlements
➢ •Discovery: result of population pressure

➢ Introduction of basic social organization of society

➢ •Villages were established and grew, protected by
walls

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Materials, Construction System & Technique

➢ More diversified construction materials

➢ Adobe and stone most popular materials

➢ Large stone was used for monuments

➢ Construction method also improved over time

➢ Significant improvement in Adobe construction
➢ Evidence of ability to quarry, shape, transport and join large
stones to create
➢ monuments

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Principles of Architectural Organization

• DWELLINGS AND SETTLEMENTS: NEW STONE AGE

➢ Became settled requiring permanent dwellings

➢ Required durable construction

➢ Improved dwellings and settlements to meet needs

➢ Change in form of house, introduction of furniture and

differentiation of space

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➢ Improvement in village form including introduction of streets

➢ Improvement in construction technology

Corbeled vault of chamber in the passage grave, Newgrange, Ireland, ca. 3200 2500
BCE

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Aerial view of ruins of Hagar Qim, Malta, ca. 3200- 2500 BCE

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Neolithic age

1.Made pottery, carved objects from wood, built shelter and

tombs
2.Only homo sapiens lived during this time
3.Farming/ Agriculture started
4.Built mud brick houses, places of worship
5.Specialized jobs came into existence
6.Cultivated land using animals
7.Used stone mortar and pestle to grind grains
8.Developed religion, Ex. Megaliths, Nature in God, Prayed to the
ancestor

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Continuation next week

Assignment:
On short bond paper: Answer the following
1. Why do we need to Study History?
2. Why do we need to study History of Architecture?
3. What is the importance of Cave painting during this
age ?

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